Over 100,000 motorists have been breath-tested since mandatory roadside testing began in July, the Garda Commissioner reported today.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy
told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that 2,700 - or 2.7 per cent - of the total number were arrested for being over the limit.
He said only about 20 drivers refused to give a Mandatory Alcohol Testing (MAT) breath sample.
"Unfortunately, the statistics overall indicate that a culture of drink driving still exists, in spite of our enforcement and the media and educational campaigns conducted with our partners in road safety," Mr Conroy said.
The committee heard that gardaí detected 1,480 drink driving incidents in August and 1,602 in September. This represented respective increases of 51 per cent and 71 per cent in levels for the same months a year ago.
There were 11,552 detected drink driving incidents recorded on the Pulse system for the nine-month period between January and September. This is a 33 per cent increase on the 8,639 equivalent for 2005.
There have been 310 people killed on the nation's roads so far this year - 12 less than the corresponding period in 2005.
Mr Conroy said it is too early to say whether the reduction is directly attributable to new legislation.
"I have deployed additional resources to enforcement of drink driving legislation, particularly at weekends during the hours of 12am to 8am," he said. "These days and hours of the week have been selected because of the disproportionate level of road fatalities to traffic volumes at these times.
"I am also conscious that the incidents of drink driving detected, tend to follow the incidents of fatal collisions during these hours."
The Commissioner said the Garda "will not be found wanting'" in its efforts to sustain the downward trend in the rate of fatal traffic collisions. He vowed to prioritise resources for road traffic enforcement measures.
PA